HAMPTON, Va. — Nestled in the Hampton University campus, you'll find Whipple Barn. Inside is the university's aviation sciences program.
Professor Timothy Johnson said students can choose from different tracks within the program.
"You can be a student in aviation with concentration as a flight education student, pilot, air traffic controller, and then airfield Manager, which is being in charge of a full airport facility, taking care of the runway and things like that," Johnson said.
There are two main areas where students can learn: the radar section and the simulated air traffic control tower.
"Tower is self-explanatory. You're in a tower. You're taxing aircraft to the runway, clearing them for takeoff and landing, and you're also dealing with vehicles," Johnson said. "For the other part, you're dealing with the terminal or radar. You're looking at a scope, and you're depicting that aircraft following it in the air."
HU is an Air Traffic College Training Initiative School (CTI) for the FAA. Graduates from the program go to the FAA Academy in Oklahoma.
But the program is getting ready to expand.
"We're currently looking to upgrade to become an enhanced CTI program, meaning our students that graduate here will go directly to their first facility, instead of having to go to the FAA school," Johnson told News 3's Jay Greene. "So it's a more direct track."
The expansion couldn't come at a better time. It's all because of a recent FAA directive in response to a shortage of air traffic controllers.
"We first had that wave of baby boomers retiring, but now we've just seen a lot of controllers retiring. The max age you can control as a controller is 55 that's the FAA requirement," Johnson said.
Adding to the problem is the cutoff age to become an air traffic controller (ATC) is 30.
According to numbers recently reported by CNN, the FAA is short about 3,000 ATCs. They want to hire 1,800 by September this year.
Last year, they fired a little more than the 1,500 goal, but at the same time, hundreds retired, failed or dropped out of the program completely due to stress.
"It's one of the high stresses—there is a lot is riding on you when talking to planes. A pilot is trusting you to get their plane airborne and on the ground safely through the skies," Johnson said. "That's a lot of pressure, and you're dealing with that multiple times a day."
Johnson, who is recently retired from the United States Air Force, has worked in multiple control towers around the world. He knows all too well the stresses of the job.
"You have nightmares, you have all kinds of crazy things. So when that happens, it's okay to take a step and go talk to someone or needing that break," Johnson said. "But while that's happening, planes are still flying. So, you know, while it's the next man up, while you're hurting and or needing to take care of yourself, we still need to do reach that high demand for aviation since COVID. There's a peak in travel. It seems like it was a wake-up call."
Professor Johnson's passion for the industry remains, fueling him to educate pilots and ATCs of the future.
"We have graduated a lot of pilots that are now with United, a couple that are that come back from American, FedEx," he said. "If it's something that you can see yourself passionate about, look into it."
The FAA released the following statement to News 3:
In 2024, staffing has only caused 0.9 percent of delays nationwide – weather is by far the largest cause of delays. The FAA’s annual update to the Controller Workforce Plan [faa.gov] includes the latest analysis and projections for building and maintaining the staffing levels necessary to ensure the safe and efficient operation of the National Airspace System. The agency is taking aggressive action to hire and train more air traffic controllers. You can find staffing numbers for each facility on page 53.
- In 2023, we hired 1,500 [faa.gov] controllers and this year we will hire 1,800.
- We're increasing the controller training pipeline by authorizing institutions in the Air Traffic-Collegiate Training Initiative (AT-CTI) program to provide the same thorough curriculum offered at the FAA Air Traffic Controller Academy, which will allow for immediate facility training upon graduation.
- We have a year-round hiring opportunity for experienced controllers from the military and private industry.
- We are enhancing training with modernized simulators to help us get new hires through training more efficiently.
